The Internet has changed many business verticals, for better or worse. The impact on the music industry has been the most publicized because of how easy sharing music is, but all forms of media are now easily copied and distributed without the owner’s consent.
Photographers have been hit just as hard as those in the music industry; they are torn between wanting people to see their work, and protecting their work from being stolen.
Cambridge, Mass.-based ImageRights International is looking to change all that by letting users protect their work for free.
As Senior Vice President of Business Development, Maria Kessler told me, “The Internet offers an unparalleled medium for global distribution and marketing of art and entertainment at a low cost, but the dark side of that is rampant piracy.“
This is the problem Ted VanCleave, one of the founders of ImageRights International (and also a photographer), set out to combat a little over two years ago.
VanCleave and co-founder Joe Naylor have put together a product that protects photographer’s rights on the Web by tracking if anyone has used their photos.
They do this by, “applying visual search and image recognition technology (image fingerprinting) to discover the use of images, illustrations, and graphics across the Internet,” Kessler explained.
Once clients have uploaded their photos, ImageRights does regular scans of the Web to make sure the photo isn’t being used. They are even able to recognize photos if they have been altered, cropped, color adjusted or rotated.
After scanning, ImageRights will deliver a report to the client that looks like the one pictured to the right. Not only are the clients notified of unlawful use of their work, they are also provided ImageRights Recovery Service. That offers appropriate ways to take action on the unlicensed use of their work.
Initially, ImageRights only offered a paid service, but the company recently released a free version of the software. This offers photographers with less than 10,000 images the ability to use ImageRights’ reporting/matching tool. With this new “fremium” model, clients can discover if their work is being used without authorization, and can pay to use ImageRights Recovery Service if necessary.
After only four weeks of offering the free service, ImageRights has seen over 1,000 new sign-ups.
They decided to offer the free service to entice new users — the company feels the product is effective and simple to use, and they’re trying to build awareness among a wider variety of photographers. ImageRights wants to be able to work with everyone from individual amateur photographers all the way up to enterprise level businesses.
ImageRights has been using a strong social media presence to build their brand as well. Since June when they started their Twitter account, they have already gained over 800 followers. (Follow them at @ImageRights)
The ImageRights staff is currently located in the Cambridge Innovation Center — the biggest co-working center on the East Coast. Kessler told me that they have used the community for collaborative conversations, as a sounding board, and for growing contacts.
ImageRights International has planted themselves in the perfect place to grow their business, and help photographers fight piracy. Make sure to check them out if you are looking to protect your work online.
What do you think of ImageRights and their goal? Is the Internet better as a wild west free-for-all of creativity, or as a more secure place where intellectual property values can return to what they once were. Please let us know in the comments section below.
